Mainstream Islamic Opinion
There is a disconnect between the media (and apologists’) notions of Islam and what hundreds of millions of Muslims actually believe. Apologists, including the media, tell us constantly that the jihadist/shari’ah law folks are only a “tiny fraction” of Muslims. A few, exceptionally foolish, tell us that jihadism has “nothing to do with Islam.”
But take a look at this collection of polls from around the world, and see what beliefs that members of the Islamic faith actually hold. A few examples:
Pew Research (2013): 76% of South Asian Muslims and 56% of Egyptians advocate killing anyone who leaves the Islamic religion.
http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/Muslim/worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-full-report.pdf
Pew Research (2013): 19% of Muslim Americans believe suicide bombings in defense of Islam are at least partially justified (global average is 28% in countries surveyed).
http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/Muslim/worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-full-report.pdf
Pew Research (2013): 39% of Muslims in Malaysia say suicide bombings “justified” in defense of Islam (only 58% say ‘never’).
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/extremism-in-the-name-of-islam-and-malaysian-muslims-joshua-woo
Die Presse (2013): 1 in 5 Muslims in Austria believe that anyone wanting to leave Islam should be killed.
http://muslimstatistics.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/survey-on-islam-in-austria-18-of-muslims-support-death-sentence-for-apostasy-21-9-oppose-democracy/
Motivaction Survey (2014): 80% of young Dutch Muslims see nothing wrong with Holy War against non-believers. Most verbalized support for pro-Islamic State fighters.
http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2014/11/young-dutch-turks-radical-views-worry-mps-call-for-more-research.php/
These beliefs and opinions are promoted by a combination of Muslim Brotherhood imams and those inspired by them, and by a massively funded outreach process from Saudi Arabia which sends literature to jihadist mosques and madrassas around the word, including the United States.
I am writing separately about a particular example of that literature.
==============/ Keith DeHavelle